Sneak Peek

Italian burgers with 4 cheese spread and breaded and fried zucchini with homemade dipping sauce

Burger Star

Today was such a beautiful day, I spent the afternoon with the amazing Theary Meak and one of her old friends Treaven.  Our mission for the day?  Find a burger as satisfying as the afternoon was.  And with the brilliant blue sky, the warm sun and the light breeze, this burger needed to be just short of extraordinary to live up to our expectations.  Treaven suggested a little joint in Omaha called Burger Star.  I must admit, with out a recommendation I would have drove right past this place.  It is located on the corner of a strip mall, with a large bright red and yellow star as their logo.  Granted they do have a picturesque little patio, but overall the building seemed a little understated.  This ended up being a huge plus once we got inside, it was like a cool kids only zone. The crowd it attracted was a group of good people, looking for a good burger and a layed back afternoon.  It wasn't filled with a bunch of average Joe's trying to get a quick bite in between running errands.  It was decorated with smooth granted floors, big warm furniture and a mix of classic country and rock n' roll decor.  One of Treaven's favorite features about this place is the music selection.  They have dozens and dozens of live concerts on video and they will happily turn on your favorite artist.  Our music selection for our late afternoon lunch?  Non other than Queen.  Now we had great company, great music and a great setting to enjoy our lunch, all we needed were some great burgers.  Burger Star offers a build your own menu, you can choose a single burger, double burger or a grilled chicken sandwich with the toppings of your choice.  I built my single burger up with cheddar and pepper jack, jalapenos, BBQ sauce and fried onions.  Theary had a single with sauteed mushrooms, fresh pico, jalapenos and swiss.  Treaven had the biggest appetite, ordering a double stack with ketchup, mayo, grilled onions, tomatoes, pickles, lettuce and cheddar cheese.  His burger also came with enough fries for the three of us to share.  The fries deserved a little section of praise here....hand cut (thick with the skin on) and sea salt.  The sea salt was a wonderful bite of flavor without making you feel like you were on your way to a clogged artery.  But the burgers were the true star of the meal, hence the name of the the restaurant.  The first thing Theary and I noticed was the crispy edges on our burgers.  They tasted just like they had came off a backyard grill, which is such a hard flavor to achieve from an indoor industrial kitchen.  All the burgers came on soft roll buns, buttered and grilled.  The toppings were fresh; the jalapenos had the right amount of kick, the cheese was ooey-gooey melted and the fried onions had the right amount of crunch.  Theary finished her burger in record time, obviously no complaints from her end of the table.  Treaven slowed down a bit mid burger but was still unable to leave any of it behind.  Theary and I washed our burgers down with margarita's, they serve classic and strawberry with your choice of blended or on the rocks.  Treaven enjoyed a Mexican Pepsi, a favorite served in the glass jar.  I feel I must mention the wait staff too, I'm not sure what their hiring process is but I'm pretty sure 'cool' is a requirement.  All the staff we came in contact with fit the vibe of the restaurant; friendly, fun and welcoming.  Our only disappointing moment was when we had to leave.  It would have been so easy for the three of us to sit on the patio for a couple of hours, sipping margaritas, listening to great music and soaking up the blue sky and sunshine.

This restaurant comes with my full seal of approval, try it for yourself:
Burger Star
1222 S. 71 Street
Omaha, Ne
402-333-7827

good stuff eatery

September has turned out to be a very busy month and has presented me with some fun, unique food opportunities. About seven years ago while donating blood I was asked if I would like to give an extra vile and be entered into the Department of Defense (DOD) national bone marrow donor program. In return for entering yourself in the program you received the rest of the day off of work, so of coarse I said yes. Being in the national bone marrow donor registry is pretty uneventful. Until you get called. I got my first call two and a half years ago. After a series of rigorous physical screening I was determined to be the closest match for a leukemia patient in need of a donation. My donation was actually for stem cells, not marrow. Which is a less painful, more precise method of treatment. Its a cleaner product that's more easily accepted by the recipient. This initial treatment lead to two more donations over two years to help stimulate the healthy growth of cells for my match. ANYWAYS, the point of telling you all this is that the donations are held in Washington D.C. Which means every year or so I get an all expense paid vacation to the nations capitol. And I take full advantage of the booming food scene there. On my first trip years ago I was super excited to visit a new restaurant opened by a favorite Top Chef contestant of mine, Spike Mendelsohn. The Good Stuff Eatery is a burger joint serving the good old favorites as well as new and interesting burger combinations. They also offer hand cut fries (with or without special seasoning), hand spun shakes and a selection of homemade dipping sauces. My first trip to the Eatery was a memorable one. We were even lucky enough to meet Spike and see him work. The burgers were large, hearty and delicious. The staff friendly and fun. It was such a memorable trip that I have gone back every time I visit D.C. However, this last trip was memorable for all the wrong reasons. I have been craving a burger from The Good Stuff Eatery for weeks now, ever since I got the call to come back. It was the first place we went when we arrived in the city. The music was unbearably loud and the place seemed ridiculously crowded. And it didn't take long to figure out why. Right inside the door in the only downstairs waiting area was a large shipment of paper products. Some boxes were even open and product taken out to be used while the rest of the boxes sat there unattended and obviously not where they belonged. There was mass confusion as you walked up to the counter, no one was sure who was in line, who was waiting for their food and who was working. There were at least four men in uniform just standing around on the customer side of the counter. Doing nothing. Being a manager myself, it was really hard for me not to tell those lazy boys to stop leaning on the wall and go put away the paper shipment. Once we finally made our way up to the counter we had to yell, literally yell, over the music to order our food. And when the cashier couldn't hear us correctly she didn't politely ask us to speak up, instead she rudely ordered us to 'talk louder'. The experience was so far from the usual I couldn't help but look around and notice the be-wildered look on the other patrons faces too. Finally we were handed a buzzer and a numbered ticket and sent to wait. The next thing we knew the rude counter girl was shouting numbers that didn't match any one's ticket. And since none of our buzzers were buzzing we all stared right back at her. Eventually (and still rudely) she informed us she was calling the numbers of the buzzers. Which left us wondering why hand out buzzers if you aren't going to use them for their intended purpose? At last we went upstairs to take our seats. Again we noticed several employees standing around. And several uncleaned tables. The only upside to this trip was that the food was still amazing. My mom and I got the same burger, A cheese burger with American and Muenster cheese, sauteed mushrooms, caramelized onions and 'the good stuff sauce'. And we both got hand spun shakes. Mine was a black and white (vanilla with hot fudge) and my mom got a basic chocolate shake. As we were enjoying our super calorie laden lunch we starting to get an uneasy filling. And it soon became apparent what the extra staff was for. To stare at you and make you uncomfortable so you leave sooner. All and all we spent less than a half and hour at lunch. I was left with the overall feeling that the boss was away (and had been away for a while) and his employees were not behaving as they should. At least that is what I hope was the problem. Sadly I doubt I will ever find out. If I was a D.C. resident I would surely give The Good Stuff Eatery another chance. But since I only have a few days a year to sample the D.C. food scene I won't be waisting them on another chance at a horrible experience.